Smother Me
by BrendaBites
Summary: Violet Harmon moves to the house in Los Angeles when she's still a small girl, and there, she meets a ghost. She grows up with the ghost in her room, the only person who takes care of her and doesn't mind that she's different. It's not until she grows up, that he realizes she'll eventually leave him, and that's not something Tate can deal with. He wants Violet with him forever.
1. Chapter 1

Violet knew about the ghosts in her house from the moment she moved in, most of them were friendly enough, others liked to cause trouble.

The twins, for example, loved to get Violet in trouble with her mom. They'd break her things and Vivian would only see a broken vase next to an eight year old Violet, who else would she have blamed?

Ben didn't believe Violet about the ghosts either, instead he said it was a way for her to cope with them moving all the way across the country. "She'll grow out of it," he'd assure his wife before going off every morning to 'work'.

Violet stayed in her room most of the time, she didn't make many friends at school, not even when she talked about how scary her Halloween costume had been last year. None of the children at school seemed very impressed with her zombie impressions either.

In fact, there was only one person who seemed to like her doings. She had met him when she moved from Boston.

He had been sitting by the window in her room when she moved in. He didn't seem to care when she walked in holding a box of her belongings, so she spoke up, "Do you live here too?"

His head snapped to her, a look of surprise on his face. He had blond wavy hair, and eyes darker than most of Violets clothes.

"I'm Violet," she said. "Mom said this was my new room." When he still didn't say anything, Violet dropped the box at her feet, rattling the things in the box. "Are you like the twins downstairs? They scared my moms dog and one of them tried pulling my hair. They're not very nice are they?"  
The boy with the blond hair let his lips turn up slightly, "No, they're not very nice."

"I told them to go away, but you can stay if you want," she smiled.

"You weren't scared of them?" the boy quirked an eyebrow and began to walk towards her.

Violet raised her chin, "I'm not scared of _anything_," she claimed with a grin.

"You know," the boy towered over her, "We're dead."

He expected her to at least look taken back, but then again she was small. Did she even know what being dead meant? The little girl with the light brown hair and curious eyes only smiled wider.

"Want to hear my roar?" she asked excitedly.

"Your what?" the boy was confused by then. Why wasn't this little girl running from him? Or at least calling her mom and telling her about the strange man in her room? She had met the twins, which were the creepiest little shits Tate had ever met, so why wasn't she crying yet? And the biggest question, why was she able to see them?

"My- _roooaaar_," she responded, raising her tiny hands to add effect. Her gumdrop teeth were bared to Tate, trying to look intimidating, but only succeeding at looking adorable.

Tate couldn't help but grin, "That's the best roar I've ever heard."

"Scary?" Violet giggled.

"Very scary," Tate agreed, though he didn't know why. He didn't have to stand there and humor the kid, but he had to admit, she was cute. "And that's coming from a ghost himself."

Violet looked pleased with herself. "I was a ghost for Halloween one time, and not the ones with the white sheets with holes in them, and not like you or the twins. I was a scary ghost, had bloody clothes and _everything_."

Tate wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he still smiled and crouched down to level with her. "You think I'm not a scary ghost?"

"Maybe if you had more blood, and you didn't look so pretty. Scary things can't be pretty."

Tate nearly laughed out loud at that, "You think I'm a pretty ghost?"

Violet shrugged, "Don't you think so?"

Tate almost answered with, "Of course I know I'm pretty," but didn't want her to think he was so self aware of his looks. Instead he smiled tentatively at her and looked inside her box. "What do you have in here anyways?" he asked her.

Violet grinned, "I have books, wanna see? My mom bought me Dracula before we left Boston."

_Boston_, Tate thought, _is a long way to come from. _

"What's your name anyways?" Violet asked him, tilting her head to the side as she handed him the hard covered book.

"Tate," he answered, taking the book from her hands.

"Tate," she echoed. "_Tate. _That's a weird name... I like it."

"You're a weird little girl," he retorted, and she began to smile again. "I like it too."


	2. Chapter 2

Vivian worried when she noticed Violet would come from school and go directly up to her room, Ben said it was only natural for her to want to find comfort in a place she could call her own.

Vivian didn't seem convinced, and so the next day she picked up Violet from school and decided to take her out.

"We can go to the park, or maybe watch a movie?" Vivian suggested with an eager smile.

"But the movie I wanted to watch isn't out until _next _week," Violet complained. It was still too early in the year for the good scary movies to come out, but she was still interested in the gore infested movie that she'd seen in the commercials a couple of days ago. Tate had told her it looked like a movie worth watching, and she was learning to trust his judgment.

Vivian was going to tell her about the age requirements for that movie, but decided not to. "Well how about we go to the mall and I'll buy you ice cream?"

Violet liked that idea, but she hoped they wouldn't take so long, she had a story she heard at school that she wanted to share with Tate.

Tate wandered around the house, tossing one of Violets plastic toys up and catching it repeatedly.

Moira walked up from behind him, snatching the toy from his hands and giving him a slight glare. "They should be here soon."

"They should be here by now," Tate replied, trying to sound casual. He sneaked a glance at the clock behind Moira and clenched his jaw slightly. Violet came out of school at two, it took her roughly ten minutes to come home when she took the school bus, but today, Vivian had gone out. Violet should have been home already.

"Go wait for Violet upstairs then, and take the toys with you," she scolded. "We don't need any more mess in this house, it's bad enough the woman scrubbed my wooden floors with that-"

Tate walked off before she could finish, taking the plastic toy with him. Violet had gave it to him the night before, "I got it in a happy meal once," she had said. "It's suppose to be a monster but it isn't scary- _or bad_. Almost like you," she grinned.

Tate hadn't let the toy out of his sight since, not even when the twins decided to taunt him for it.

He walked up the stairs, hoping that any minute now, Violet would come running through the door screaming, "Tate, Tate, _Tate_! Guess what happened at school today?"

He told himself he was eager for her to come because nobody in the damn house ever said anything new or interesting. Violet was always interesting.

He waited for Violet in her room- _their_ room, because odd enough, she had chosen the same room he had all those years ago, _before _he was killed.

He looked around the room, almost seeing the blood splattered all over the walls. He could still hear the gun shots when he was alone and thoughtful.

Somehow, when Violet was here, all the blood and screaming disappeared. He couldn't see the men dressed in black, pointing the guns at him, or even his mother standing near the doorway, shrieking and pulling at her own hair in desperation.

Tate only saw the little girl in the small, worn out dresses. He saw her big smiles and the way her hair stood up in places they shouldn't be. All Tate heard was her giggles and her monster impressions.

It was nearly five when Tate finally heard the front door open. He heard the tiny footsteps running up the stairs before he heard her shouting. "Today was awesome," she said, throwing the door open.

In her hands, Violet held something small and square.

Tate didn't mention how lonely the house seemed without her shouting, and instead asked, "What's that?" He reached out to take the object from her hand, thinking it was going to be something that only excited an eight year old.

"My mom didn't want me to get it," she said, nearly jumping up and down.

It was a CD, he noted, and when he saw the cover, Tate laughed.

His laugh wasn't forced or even mean, it was a happy laugh, Violet knew, and so she asked, "Like it? Mom said she'll get me a stereo soon, but I could borrow dads CD player for now. Wanna listen to it?"

"God, Violet, you're the fu- " he stopped before he could say something he didn't want Violet to repeat. She had been doing that a lot lately, repeating phrases he'd said before, or copying the things he did. Tate wasn't going to lie, he loved it when she did. "You're the coolest eight year old _ever_."

He then reached down and pulled her into his arms. "I can't believe you got a Nirvana album, how did you even know I liked this?"

Violet looked even more pleased with herself, "You talk about Kurt," she paused and concentrated, "_Co- Bane_. I asked the man at the music store and he showed me this. He thought I was a cool eight year old too."

Tate hugged her and laughed again, "Kurt Cobain. I mentioned him like once Violet. How did you even remember that?"

Violet shrugged, "I remember almost everything you say."

Tate blinked, but then shook his head and put her back on her feet before messing with the top of her hair. "You're a cool kid Violet."


	3. Chapter 3

For days, Violet and Tate laid on the floor of her room, close to the stereo her mom bought her at a yard sale. They turned the volume up to its highest until Ben came home and shouted for Violet to turn it down.

Sometimes Violet would jump on her bed and sing along to the lyrics she quickly learned. Tate loved to watch her thrash around, faking a look that said _'I don't care about anything or anyone_.'

Moira would scold him for teaching the child such 'un-ladylike behavior', Tate would only grin.

The only times Violet wasn't with Tate, was when she was at school, or Vivian dragged her away on trips that were meant to entertain her. She always came back with something for Tate though, whether it was another album, or a movie she thought he might like.

They had watched a horror movie in the living room one night, where Violet had screamed so loud, Tate wondered if showing her the things he liked was such a good idea. He hadn't seen Violet so scared, not as scared as she was that night when she clutched to him at night and suggested they left the lights on.

Tate stayed with her until she fell asleep, and was still there when she woke up with a scream halfway up her throat.

"Shh," he cooed, holding her, "You're okay. Everything is fine Vi, go back to sleep."

She had claimed she wasn't tired, and ended up staying awake the entire night, eyes wide open and arms tight around Tate. It wasn't until the sun came up, that Violet finally fell asleep.

She stopped watching horror films with him after that. She still listened to music with him after school, but as time went on, she was more and more distracted with school.

She never asked what he did anymore, not after she went up to third grade. She only came home, turned on the radio and began her homework. Sometimes she talked about the boys in her class. "Gabriel gave me a note today," she'd say.

"What did it say?" Tate would ask, and not because he had to. He was truly curious on what a little third grader would write to Violet.

"He said we should hang out at recess," she shrugged, as if weren't a big deal for her.

Tate snorted, "Gabriel sounds like a dork."  
"He's not," Violet replied quickly, before pausing and shrugging again, "I mean.. I guess he is a dork. He pushed me the other day.. but he always lets me go in front of him in the lunch line..."

Tate tried to ask casually, "What did you do when he pushed you?"

"Nothing," Violet answered, almost sheepishly.

"You should have punched him," Tate told her. "That's what I would have done."

Violet only shook her head and returned to her homework, humming along to the song that played in the background.

"Vi?"

Her response was a curious look in his direction, pencil still hovering over her unfinished homework.

"Why do you bother doing homework anyways?" he sighed loudly, throwing himself back on her bed for dramatics.

"If I don't, then I could get in trouble."

Tate missed their long conversations, nobody in the house could carry out a conversation like Violet. She would say the silliest things, and yet, sometimes she said the things that made Tate wonder how old she really was.

"Who cares?" he groaned, even louder. He hated that school made her go away in the mornings, but he hated it even more now that it made her take time away from their afternoons.

"I only have two pages left," she said quietly. "I can finish this today, and it isn't due until Friday!"

"So tomorrow we can watch a movie or something? The house is getting boring again Vi."

Violet pretended not to hear him.

"Violet?"

"Hm?"

"Movie tomorrow? We can even watch that stupid show you like-"

"I – Gabriel is coming over," she muttered, scribbling furiously on her homework. "His mom knows my mom."

Tate felt a spark of anger flicker inside him. She didn't want to hang out with him? Weren't little kids suppose to look up to older kids?

"Fine," Tate said through gritted teeth. "I'm going to go find Nora."

He got up from the bed, expecting Violet to protest, but when she didn't, he stomped out of the room.

Kids really were annoying. As if Tate needed Violet. Yeah right.

He was so irritated at being rejected, by a third grader, no less, he nearly ran down the stairs, knocking something down with so much force, it made Vivian jump.

"What the-" she began, looking up at the staircase. She saw nothing, and walked away, feeling wary.

Tate felt the anger inside him fade the tiniest bit at seeing Vivian afraid, even if just for a second.

He followed her the rest of the day, hovering over her and enjoying how nervous she looked. She could feel his presence, Tate noted, but she couldn't see him.

It was an odd thing, nobody could see him, except for Violet, unless he really wanted to hide. He could blend in with the shadows, and Violet would look around relentlessly for him. She could always feel him in the same room as her, whether he wanted her to or not.

Vivian and Ben, had never seen him, never mentioned anything that seemed wrong about the house, at least not out loud. Moira liked to hover around in the kitchen, but she never gave out the heavy presence that Tate did, she liked to tell him it was because she wasn't a bad person.

"You've killed people," she would tell him nonchalantly as she cleaned the kitchen counters.

If she ever said that while Violet was in the house, he would glare at Moira and tell her to shut up. Violet liked dark things, but he was sure she wouldn't like to hear about Tate's past.

She was only a kid after all, and kids were scared of monsters.

Tate didn't want Violet to _ever _be afraid of him, even if she had the right to.

He also didn't want Violet to ignore him, which was why, the next day, when Gabriel and his mother came over, Tate did what he did.

Violet and Gabriel had been playing in the backyard, while Vivian and his mother talked about stupid things in the kitchen.

Tate waited for Gabriel to be alone, to scare him.

He had asked to go to the bathroom, and Violet pointed to the direction of the bathroom upstairs before going into the kitchen to ask her mom for a snack.

Gabriel was walking up the stairs when Tate tapped his shoulder.

Gabriel looked to see if it was Violet, and when he saw no one, his imagination went wild. He ignored all his thoughts and hurried to the bathroom door.

Before he could make it inside, Tate pushed Gabriel.

_See how he likes it when _he _gets pushed_. Tate thought bitterly.

It was all a bit blurry after that, Tate didn't know why he had done something so idiotic and immature, but he knew after Gabriel left that day, he swore he'd never step foot inside the house again, and Tate smiled widely. Violet only glared in his direction and asked if he knew what happen.

Tate shrugged, "Maybe the twins came along," he lied smoothly.

Violet nodded, "They do that to new people, don't they? Too bad Gabriel said he doesn't want to hang out anymore.."

"He's an asshole," Tate murmured.

The next week, Violet had gotten detention for calling Gabriel an asshole during class.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel never visited the house again, but Violet still talked about him. Tate didn't care what color Gabriel said was his favorite, or how many of his cookies he let Violet have, he didn't even care that his new haircut made him look like a dork, but he still listened to Violet talk about him.

"His birthday is next week," she said as they watched reruns of crime shows. Tate liked to see how other people were caught, it was a bonus if they were killed like him.

"Who's?" he asked, tearing his attention away from the man who stood at the top of a building, surrounded by cops.

"Gabriel's birthday," Violet replied, as if it should have been obvious.

"Birthdays aren't really that special," he told her.

"They aren't?"

"Think about it Vi," Tate sighed, seeing Violets ears perking up. She sat up and even leaned in closer to Tate, "They're just an anniversary of-"

"Anniversary? Like how long mom and dad have been married?" she quirked a tiny eyebrow up, Tate remembered the first time she started doing that, and how she wouldn't stop for weeks.

"Exactly," he smiled, "They're not always a good thing, they don't show years of fun, they show years of putting up with all kinds of messed up things."

Violet nodded, making her way to Tate, and curling up on his lap. "I see."

He knew telling Violet that wasn't the sweetest thing to do, and at the moment he didn't care. He just knew she wasn't going to be rejoicing next week just because a stupid kid like Gabriel was born. He also knew, she had her head on his lap, looking thoughtful in the way that made her eyes look older than she really was.

Tate ran his fingertips over her unbrushed hair, which was still looked soft and golden.

"Mom and dad fight a lot," Violet said quietly.

"They do," Tate replied, just as quietly.

"But they have their good moments too," she added. "He bought her earrings once. And he still makes her smile when he tries. Mom always makes him his favorite foods when he's sad, and.. and .." Violet tried hard to think of other good moments they all had, but her brain refused to let her have any good memories.

"Life sucks," Tate whispered, still running his fingers over her hair. "But you're right. It has its good moments."

"Like you meeting me," Violet teased with her toothy grin.

Tate smiled back, tucking her hair away from her face, "Definitely." He didn't mention that meeting her wasn't part of his life, it was part of his afterlife. "Thank you for coming into my life Vi," he told her in a voice just as teasing as hers.

"You're very welcome," she giggled.

She was still laying her head on his lap when she grew serious. She had her attention to the screen, where a man was declared dead.

"Tate?"  
"Yeah?"

"How did you die?"

Tate wasn't surprised when she asked, he had even planned his response, but he wasn't prepared for her expression.

She looked confused, almost worried, but Tate didn't understand why.

"Vi, the past doesn't matter now," he assured her, instead of telling her the brutal scene in which he was killed. "It's lame to even think about it, got it?"

Violet didn't nod like she usually did. "Why?"

"It doesn't matter what your past was like, because you choose how you want now to be."

Violet shook her head, "You're wrong," she said, surprising Tate. She always agreed with him. Always.

"What?"

"Maybe dying is in your past, but you're still here. You're a ghost Tate, and it's because of your past," she said her words quietly, and unsure, as if she wasn't quite sure they made sense.

Tate didn't respond, he was thinking back to the day he died. His actions changed his future completely, he wondered where he would have gone if he hadn't been killed. If he hadn't killed.

"How did you die Tate?" she repeated in her tiny voice.

"I was shot," he answered, and then chuckled at the memory.

"Did it hurt?" she asked.

"I – I don't think it did," he replied. He had been so far gone that day, he couldn't remember any pain. All he remembered was the blood, the laughter, the shouting, and the adrenaline that rushed through his veins.

"Why did they shoot you?"

"I did something bad Vi," he whispered. "I wasn't a good person."  
"I think you're the best Tate," she said, cuddling up closer to him. She managed to wrap her little arms around his waist, and look up at him with a smile. "You're not a bad person."

But he was, and if she could see the faces that pleaded for their lives, she would see how terrible he really was.

Tate looked down at Violet and felt his stomach clench. He had killed people, people who could have been like his Vi, kids who had potential and dreams of the future.

No, the back of his head told him, the world is a filthy place, and if they really weren't as terrible as everyone else in that goddamn high school, then he did them a favor by getting them out.

"I did terrible things Violet."

"Did you kill someone?" she asked suddenly.

Tate couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Why?" her voice was tiny, scared even.

"They were bad people," he lied. He couldn't fathom the idea of Violet fearing him.

"So.. you're like a hero?" Vi offered an uneasy smile.

When Tate shook his head, Vi hugged him tighter.

"It's okay..." she assured him, somehow knowing he needed comfort, "I know! You can be _my_ hero Tate."  
It was in that moment that he decided that he would be Violet's hero. He'd be her protector and he'd keep her safe from all the filth in the world.


	5. Chapter 5

It started off with a dare.

"_I'm_ notscared," Violet argued, glaring her tiny eyes at her new friend.

"Well neither am I!" Leah retorted.

"_Dare her to go downstairs,_" Tate whispered in Violet's ear with a small smile of anticipation. Violet almost never invited her friends over, and Tate found himself hating it when she did. She wouldn't talk to him, and instead pretended he wasn't there.

Leah, admittedly, was better than Gabriel, but still, Tate didn't care to have her around for too long.

Violet smiled and shrugged, "Fine. Then I _dare_ you to go to the basement."

"No way!" Leah huffed. "Not after what happened there."

Leah had just finished telling Violet what her older brother said. He had said that there was a doctor who lived and died in the house, long before Vi moved in, except he was completely insane and probably still haunted the place.

Leah's brother was in seven grade, so he _had _to be right.

Tate laughed quietly, "See, you _are_ scared," Violet giggled.

Leah tipped her chin up, "Am not!"

"Prove it!"  
"I will!" Leah rose to her feet with dignity and huffed again. "Where's your dirty basement anyways?"  
Violet ignored the insult and led Leah to the door in the hall downstairs. She grinned and opened the door for her, showing the long stairs going down to the dark room.

"Isn't there a light or something?" Leah grumbled but took careful steps through the door.

"Wanna see something cool?" Tate whispered to Violet.

Violet nodded, just before the door closed shut and they heard Leah scream. "That's not funny Violet!"

The door knob shook from the other side, showing how roughly Leah was pulling on it.

Violet's grin faded, replaced by a frown. "She's my friend Tate."

"She's a rotten kid," he replied easily. She really was. She was always picking on Violet, even if Vi didn't mind, it didn't mean she could keep doing it. Leah needed to be taught a lesson.

Leah needed to be scared.

Violet reached for the door handle and tried to open it. "It's locked-" Violet pulled on it, at the same time Leah shouted for the door to be opened.

From behind the door, there was something other than Leah's shouting. There was also a bit of low laughter.

The twins.

Violet pulled on the door harder, "Tate, open the door. Open the door Tate! The twins, they're going to-"

There was another scream from behind the door, only it was different. It wasn't filled with anger and anxiety, it was fear at it's worse.

"Tate!" Violet shouted, tugging on the door.

Finally, he came over and opened the door. Leah came running out, leaving the snickering twins behind.

"Wh- what happened?" Violet asked, going after her.

Leah glared furiously, stomping her feet and keeping her fists at her sides. "That wasn't funny Violet!"

Violet glared back at Tate who was holding back a smile, "I know, it _wasn't _funny-" she began but was interrupted.

"You're such a freak!" Leah shrieked, her fists looked like they were shaking now.

Footsteps came from upstairs and Violet didn't have to look to see who it was. "What is going on here?" Vivian questioned with surprise.

Leah's lips tightened, "I'd like to go home Mrs. Harmon."

Violet was surprised that Leah didn't say anything about what happened, but she didn't say so.

"Alright," Vivian responded carefully, looking between the two girls. "But one of you is going to have to tell me what happened."

Both girls looked at each other, but before Vivian could press them for answers, the house phone began to ring. She gave them a stern look but walked off to answer it.

"Hello?" she waited for an answer, and when it didn't came, she shrugged and put the phone down. "That's odd," she murmured, but decided she should call Leah's mom to tell her how she wanted to leave already. The girls had been getting along so far, even though it was awfully obvious that Leah was the one who chose every game they played.

Violet went along with everything Leah said, maybe she finally said no and it made Leah angry?

Vivian wasn't sure, but she decided they'd both figure things out eventually.

.

.

Violet was upset after Leah left, she didn't talk to Tate even when he said he didn't do anything.

"You didn't help either," Violet whispered, after almost an hour of Tate's cooing. "And now Leah is going to hate me."

Tate felt the guilt settle in, and he sighed. "Vi, I'm sorry okay? I'll help out next time-"

Violet only looked at him with a blank expression.

"I'll talk to the twins," he offered. "Scream at them, if I have to." Tate scooped up Violet in his arms and hugged her tightly, "Please Violet?"

"If Leah never comes back, it's going to be all your fault," she grumbled, but huddled in close to him.

"Yes," Tate answered with a small smile. _And he wasn't sorry. _"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

Violet didn't respond so he decided to go for a different tactic.

"I _told_ you I couldn't be a hero," he whispered, softening his voice.

Violet bit her lip, remembering how he _had _told her that. She was making him sad, and Violet didn't want that. She only wanted him to see that she didn't like it her friends were scared.

"Can we just forget what happened? I'll try harder next time, Vi."

"Fine," Violet sighed and giggled when he smiled widely and bend over to kiss the tip of her nose.


	6. Chapter 6

The fighting usually started around Violet's bedtime.

Vivian would remind Ben about the millions of phone calls to unknown numbers, and Ben would threaten her with his absence.

Violet hated hearing them fight and Tate would come to her with earphones. He'd hand them to her wordlessly and they'd listen to Hole until the screaming died down.

One night, instead of the usual silence that followed, there was a loud smash, followed by the sound of quick footsteps.

Violet looked at Tate, her eyes wide and confused but before she could say anything, her door slammed open.

"Vi, honey, pack up your stuff," Vivian said, trying to sound reassuring but her voice was too broken to sound convincing.

Violet ignored the tears streaming down her mom's face and pulled out her earphones. "Why? What's going on?"

Tate's eyes widened before lowering dangerously at the door, where Ben was running in after Vivian.

"Vivian, leave Violet out of this," Ben warned.

"I'm going with my sister Ben, and I'm not leaving Violet here with – with _you_."

"Be reasonable," he stressed, trying to keep his voice leveled.

Violet stared up at her parents with wide eyes, they had never fought in front of her. "I am being reasonable. I'm being a good mother Ben, something you wouldn't know about. I'm not leaving Vi here-"

Ben closed his eyes and reached out to rub the back of his neck, "Violet, would you like to go with your mother?"

Violet would have liked it if her parents left her alone.

Tate looked at Violet, his eyes wide again.

"I'm her mother and I don't-"

"_And I'm her father_," Ben reminded her, his voice almost pleading. "I get it Vivian, I made a mistake, _I'm sorry_-"

Violet couldn't hear them anymore, she was too lost in her own thoughts. "I want to stay," she said quietly.

Vivian's shoulders fell, and her eyes were unbelieving. She must have heard wrong, because surely, even Violet, who had just turned ten, knew how neglectful her father had been.

"There you go," Ben said quietly, looking away from Vivian.

"Violet, sweetie," Vivian cooed, tears still staining her cheeks. "We can go back with Auntie in Boston-"

"I don't _want _to," Violet said, louder this time. She looked at Tate, who was looking relieved. Yes, she definitely didn't want to leave.

"It'll only be for a little bit-"

"Vivian, _please, _let's just talk about this downstairs," Ben suggested, "Violet doesn't need to hear this."

Violet squirmed uncomfortably, yeah, she really didn't need to hear this. Vivian nodded, wiping under her eyes and gave her daughter an apologetic look.

Once both her parents were out of her room, Violet looked at Tate, "That was different," she said quietly.

He nodded and reached out to her. He placed her in his lap and gave her the hug neither one of her parents had offered. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he murmured, "Your parents suck."

Violet wasn't sure why Tate was saying sorry, or why it was so bad that she saw them fight, she heard them all the time. This time, it really was different. Neither of them were violent with each other but it still made her feel almost scared to see how her parents didn't get along.

It made her sad, and sometimes she wondered if they were together just because of her.

"Do they hate each other?" Violet wondered out loud.

Tate thought it over, "I don't think they hate each other. Constance had a husband she hated, but they hardly ever fought. He was a pus-" he stopped himself before he said a word he'd have to explain. Instead Tate cleared his throat and tried again, "He did whatever she wanted, gave her whatever she asked for, and still she hated him."

"Why?" Violet croaked out, curling up closer to Tate when the shouting started up again. "He sounds like a nice guy."

Tate suppressed a snort. Yeah right. He was the worst, but he didn't mention that to Violet, not the way he left his wife and kids, or the way he burned down a house. He didn't mention the way he daydreamed of burning up the sorry excuse of a man too.

"Sometimes, people just aren't meant to be together," he said slowly, oh, how was he going to explain this? He couldn't exactly say, people could be terrible and selfish. "When you really like someone, it isn't always easy to show it, and I don't think he really liked Constance very much either."

"Then why did he give her everything?"

"He wanted a pretty wife," Tate said, "He thought he could win her over if he gave her things, but that isn't what liking someone is about."

Violet looked at her door, "I don't think fighting is the what liking someone is about."

Tate nodded, "You shouldn't hurt the person you like... but you know," he paused. "I think your parents need to learn that together."

Violet hoped her parents weren't some of those people who just didn't belong together. Maybe they would break up if it weren't for her. Maybe their fighting was because of her-

"And Vi?" Tate whispered, looking down at her with a gentle smile. "I don't know if you're even thinking this or not.. because honestly it's kind of the furthest thing from the truth, but just so it's out there, their fighting has nothing to do with you. That's just something grown ups have to go through, and it's not your fault."

Violet had her doubts about that but she still smiled back at Tate. It was nice to hear that out loud.

"And you know," he added, "They're kind of busy right now. How about I go sneak some snacks up, and you start a movie- that one with the guy who kills the people who eat his sister."

"Mom said I can't watch that movie anymore, not since I threatened to bite Gabriel's cheek off last year."

Tate smiled mischievously and winked, "She can't be mad at you today."

Violet thought that almost made their fight a little better. When Tate disappeared off for the snacks, Violet hurried to get the movie she wasn't suppose to see.

_Hannibal Rising_, she grinned and popped it into the DVD player.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all so much for all these reviews and follows, they are all really appreciated. I love to hear what you have to say, so please keep it up, and if you have any requests or suggestions, feel free to let me know.**

**Also, I know I haven't made this clear at all, but while I write this, I kind of imagine Violet growing up a bit with every chapter. **

**Again, let me know what you think and thank you so much for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors Note: Just another short update, not so fluffy but still, thank you so much for the reviews. I love reading them so I hope you guys take the time to tell me what you think about this story. **

**I think I'm going to have Violet in her teen years (next chapter?) but if you have any ideas/requests for another chapter with a young Vi, let me know, I will definitely write it up if you ask. **

**For now, you can have this small chapter, based off the episode Home Invasion.**

* * *

The first time Violet saw someone close to dying, was when her own life was at stake.

It had started off as an ordinary day, except that her parents had fought the night before and her dad decided to rent a motel room instead of having to put up with any more of Vivien's screams.

Violet wasn't on speaking terms with her mom that day, she had practically kicked out her dad.

The house wouldn't have been so scary, if she was still speaking to Tate, but she wasn't. He had thought it was a good thing that her dad was gone, and had voiced his opinion. It made Violet angry that Tate _wanted _her dad away from her and so she had shouted at him until he left her alone.

That night, she had been curled up in her own bed, listening to music and frowning at the ceiling when she heard her mother scream.

Her scream had made Violet's blood go cold. What was happening?

Tate had appeared in her bedroom almost at the same time she was about to run to the door. "Stay here Vi," he whispered sternly.

"What's going on?" she whispered, her voice cracking and her heart hammering against her chest.

"Someone got inside the house," he murmured, smoothing her hair down as if that would calm her down. He crouched down and pressed his lips against her forehead, "Hey, don't worry, everything is okay." His voice was almost soothing, "I won't let anything happen to you-"

"But mom-"

"Or your mom," he added, "I won't let anyone hurt you. Ever." He gave her a small smile and when they heard the footsteps about to climb the stairs, his smile was forced. "Go inside your closet, try to remember the story I was telling you last night. You can tell me all that you remembered after I get these guys to leave, okay?"

Violet nodded but she didn't look so sure, in fact, she looked completely terrified.

Tate gave her a light push towards the closet doors and once she was inside, he left to take care of the intruders.

* * *

Violet was in the dark, hidden behind the mess of clothes she had in her closet, and she tried to ignore the shouting from outside.

When too much time went by, she forced herself to remember the story Tate told her.

_Once upon a time, there was a princess in a tall, tall tower. Her parents, the King and Queen of Loserville sent her to this tower because she was way too cool for Loserville but to make up for it, they gave her a pet dragon. They thought the tower would be safe for the princess-_

The closet door swung open and Violet squeezed her eyes shut.

"What do we have here?" a woman's voice drawled.

_But the princess didn't need the tall tower for safety, nobody in Loserville was braver than her-_

"You're quite the hider," the woman giggled, twirling a blade in her hand. "I was hoping you'd be a little older, I don't know how I feel about killing children. They cry so much louder... then again, they are easier to hold down-"

Violet wanted to squeeze her eyes tight enough to make everything disappear, she thought about the story, the words almost shouting inside her head.

_Her pet dragon was the coolest, he could blow fire out from his mouth-  
"_Get the hell away from her," a familiar voice growled behind the woman.

Violet peeked through her eyelashes, only to see Tate with an ax in his hands, looking furiously at the woman in front of Violet.

"Is he your older brother?" the woman snickered. "I have to take care of him first, but I won't be long-"

"Get away from her," Tate warned.

The woman smiled, "Not everyone has the balls to swing an ax like that."

"I have the balls for this, I just hope you have the stomach to handle it. I'll ask one more time-"

_The dragon was her best friend, nobody could see why the princess loved him so much. _

"Get. Away. From. Her."

The woman smirked and took a teasing step towards Violet, holding her blade close to her face.

_The princess was the best princess around, and knights from Loserville tried to take her away. Those knights were the tastiest, the dragon would tell her. _

The ax swung down with enough force to make Violet open her eyes. The sound the woman made when the ax hit her side made Violet scream.

Blood seemed to squirt, and the screaming didn't stop. Violet wasn't sure if they were her screams mixed with the woman's.

_The truth was, the dragon was all she had_, _even with his knight-eating-habits_

Tate dropped the ax when he saw Violet cry out. She covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut again.

The woman was on the floor, screaming as her bowels spilled out her body.

Tate pulled Violet into his arms, staining her clothes with some blood. "No, no, no,_ no, no, no!_" she shouted. It took Tate some time, but finally she stopped struggling and shivered in his embrace.

"It's okay," he cooed, "Everything is fine Violet. You're fine. You're okay." He brushed his fingers over her hair, and pressed kisses over the tears that spilled down her cheeks.

Violet cried into his arms until her mother ran into the room.

When the police came, Violet only cried. When they informed her that none of the intruders had died, but all of them had been caught, she held on to her mother tighter.

It wasn't until one of the police officers told her, "You're a brave kid, we're all very proud. It was smart to hide and call us."

Violet didn't say anything, only hiccuped her cries and looked at Tate.

_Yes, the dragon was all she had, but it was all she could ever ask for. All she ever wanted. _

_ The princess was very lucky to have her fire breathing dragon. _


End file.
